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27 Apr 2006 - Offshore detention for all boat arrivalsDear Supporters of A Just Please find below a letter from AJA chair, In the meantime, you will have heard about the proposed changes to the Migration Act, where ALL boat arrival asylum seekers will now be sent to offshore detention centres (probably This is in direct contravention of key parts of the Refugees Convention, as well as a breach of our moral responsibilities as a nation. Please read our brief on the proposal for more details. See what UNHCR had to say on the matter. A Just Australia calls upon the Australian Government to reconsider these proposed changes and recommit Australia to adhere to international law and the principles of human rights, and to our moral obligation to help refugees in need, particularly those coming from neighbouring countries. We need your voice now more than ever! 1. Write a letter - Please use our online letter writing program to contact your local MP and John Howard. Its important in this campaign that the Senate in also targeted, so save the letter to your computer and get the Senate address from here. Send a letter to your state's Liberal, National or Family First senators. Please take the time to write a few letters, or pick up the phone and call their office. Join the growing groundswell of community opposition to this latest proposal. 2. Have a lobby meeting ? go to see your local MP or preferably a Senator on this issue. www.aph.gov.au has phone numbers and addresses. ChilOut has an excellent guide for lobbying. If you want help, please contact Kate or Anna on 02 9745 9727 and we will brief you on how to obtain and handle your meeting. 2. Add your name to our open letter - the letter text can be found here. Send an email to mail@ajustaustralia.com with your name and State, with the subject line "add name to open letter" 3. Publicise and attend our forums: We are holding forums in Sydney 3rd May and Melbourne 4th May. Send details (below) to your friends, family and colleagues and make sure you come along too! 4. Read the letter below from Together we CAN stop offshore detention and help build a more just Australia.
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Forums: ?Closed Hearts and Closed Borders ? Australia?s offshore detention proposals? The Government has recently announced that all boat arrival asylum seekers will be sent to offshore processing (detention) facilities. What does this mean for Australia?s adherence to international law and moral principals, our international reputation and most importantly what does this mean for the refugees themselves? Come and hear some expert speakers unpack the issue for you. Please bring friends or family to these events to get the details on the latest Government proposal to close Australia?s border to all boat arrival asylum seekers fleeing well-documented persecution. Sydney Wed May 3rd 7-9pm Pitt Street Uniting Church 264 Pitt st between Park and Bathurst Speakers include: Dr Louise Newman, NSW Institute of Psychiatry David Bitel, Parish Patience Lawyers and former Chair of the Refugee Council Refugee formerly detained on Nauru Sister Susan Connolly. See our events page for more details Melbourne Thurs May 4th 7-9pm University of Melbourne ? Elisabeth Murdock Theatre. Enter via Swanston St. Theatre is between gates 3&4 behind the Ian Potter Museum of art. Speakers include: John Gibson, Refugee Council Paris Aristotle, AM - Director of The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Rev Peter Norden Refugee formerly detained on Nauru. See our events page for more details Other events Adelaide - Father Frank Brennan will be speaking at two events May 5th & 6th. See the events page for details Peoples Inquiry into Immigration Detention Canberra The next public hearings for the inquiry will be in Canberra from 5-7 May at the Australian Catholic University, Watson. A launch will be held on Thursday 4 May at 6pm at Blackfriars at the ACU. All welcome. Anyone with experience or knowledge of immigration detention can testify at the hearings. We also welcome participation from people in regional areas near Canberra and people from Sydney who were unable to testify when the inquiry visited last year. Telephone conferencing is possible for those unable to travel to Canberra. The hearings are open to the public and the media unless a private hearing is requested. For information please contact Mary Ivec at aaswactsec@aasw.asn.au or on 02 6292 1121. Adelaide Coordination and networking volunteers required NOW. The final public hearings for the Inquiry will be held in Adelaide before September this year. The Adelaide hearings are being auspiced by Flinders University. The Inquiry needs assistance from people who can take on coordination and community networking roles to organise the Adelaide hearings. If you are interested in participating please contact Sue Maywald of Flinders Uni Social Work at sue.maywald@flinders.edu.au or phone 61 8 8201 3559 / mob 0421140991 or Linda Briskman on linda.briskman@rmit.edu.au or 0417 500 274. --------------------------------------- Letter from A Just Australia Chairperson,
Dear Supporters of A Just Australia
These reforms to government policy included: the release of children from detention centres; allowing more asylum-seekers to live in the community while their claims are being processed; introduction of a detention centre mental health task force; and compulsory Commonwealth Ombudsman review of all cases where people are held in detention for more than two years.
Unfortunately, even before these policy changes had time to be fully implemented, the federal government has returned to the shameful rhetoric of the dark days of the Tampa, SIEV X and ?Children Overboard?.
In response to the recent decision to recognise 42 West Papuans arriving in Australia as refugees and grant them (temporary) protection, the federal government that it wants our laws changed so that people will only be determined to be refugees if it is in ?Australia?s national interest?. The expensive ?Pacific Solution? will be expanded, a move that could see millions of taxpayer dollars spent on holding asylum-seekers off-shore away from lawyers, media scrutiny and welfare agencies. Under these plans, children could again find themselves locked up behind razor wire and other positive changes also reversed.
In this climate it is vital that national organisations such as AJA maintain a strong, public humanitarian voice of reason to counter the misinformation about asylum-seeker issues and campaign for fairer treatment for refugees. But we can?t continue this important work without your continued support.
:::: What you can do :::: Make a monthly financial donation to AJA. Regular contributions help us to better plan our national campaigns, but one-off donations are also most welcome. You can donate via the secure facilities on our website: www.ajustaustralia.com or by contacting Anna Samson on (02) 9745 9726.
Sign-up for our regular email newsletter. Visit our website and register for monthly email campaign updates and suggestions for ways you can get involved. Due to high postage and printing costs, we are unable to mail these out, but they do contain important campaign and policy information for supporters.
Fundraising help. If you have fundraising skills or ideas and can volunteer your time, please contact Anna on (02) 9745 9726. We hope that you can continue to support AJA. Together we can achieve a better deal for refugees and create a more just Australia.
Thanking you in advance,
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A Just Australia Inc |
